All The Right Moves

Chess Brightens The Futures Of Baltimore City Public School Students——Including A National-Level Champion.

- Gabriella Souza

CAHREE MYRICK KNOWS

That so much of the game of chess that he loves is psychological. there’s even a mindset about the color of the pieces you commandeer, the 13-year-old explains. The player with the white pieces gets to move first, and therefore sets the pace of the game and tends to be more aggressive. But the player with the black pieces has to be deliberate and conscientious to be able to respond to his opponent’s attacks. “Most people like white,” he says. “But some people like to be patient and hold back, and they like black.”

Away from the board, it’s clear that Myrick relates more to the player with the black pieces. Myrick is equally unflappable when he’s at school or playing with his brothers, says his mother, Yuana Spears. “He’s an old soul. Cahree is extremely laid-back and intellectual. You can tell there’s a lot running through his head, and if you ask him a question, you can see that he’s analyzing it before he responds.”

But when he’s at the chessboard, all that changes, and he assumes the aggressive tendencies more associated with the player moving the white pieces. Like a camera lens, Myrick’s eyes widen and zoom in on the checkered board as he envisions his next trap. The moves he makes are swift, strategic, and deadly, as he offs a knight here, kills a pawn there, always on the hunt for the player with the crown. But at the same time, he understands that he can only really control half of the action. “The game is based off what your opponent does, too,” he says. “You can’t just try to do your original plan if your opponent is doing something that would destroy you.”